Masters Tournament - Field

Field

The Masters has the smallest field out of the major championships at around 90 players. It is an invitational event, with invitations largely issued on an automatic basis to players who meet published criteria. The top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are all invited.

Past champions are always eligible, but since 2002 the Augusta National Golf Club has discouraged them from continuing to participate at an advanced age.

Invitation categories (as of 2010):

  1. Masters Tournament Champions (Lifetime)
  2. U.S. Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
  3. The Open Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
  4. PGA Champions (Honorary, non-competing after five years)
  5. Winners of the Players Championship (Three years)
  6. Current U.S. Amateur Champion (6-A) and Runner-up (6-B) (Honorary, non-competing after one year);
  7. Current British Amateur Champion (Honorary, non-competing after one year)
  8. Current Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion
  9. Current U.S. Amateur Public Links Champion
  10. Current U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion
  11. The first 16 players, including ties, in the previous year's Masters Tournament
  12. The first 8 players, including ties, in the previous year's U.S. Open
  13. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year's Open Championship
  14. The first 4 players, including ties, in the previous year's PGA Championship
  15. The 30 leaders on the Final Official PGA Tour Money List for the previous calendar year
  16. Winners of PGA Tour Regular Season and Playoff events that award at least a full-point allocation for the season-ending Tour Championship, from previous Masters to current Masters.
  17. Those qualifying for the previous year's season-ending Tour Championship
  18. The 50 leaders on the Final Official World Golf Ranking for the previous calendar year
  19. The 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters Tournament

Most of the top current players will meet the criteria of multiple categories for invitation. The Masters Committee, at its discretion, can also invite any golfer not otherwise qualified, although in practice these invitations are currently reserved for international players.

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